Tie the SunRail squirrel is nuts about train safety

SunRail shows off first locomotive at Church Street, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013; And elected officials, SunRail staffers get a sneak peek at the first train car delivered for the SunRail commuter rail transit project, at SunRail's new railroad yard in Sanford, Fla., Monday, August 12, 2013. The light rail system is slated to begin service in central Florida sometime in 2014. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

A slightly frazzled and twitchy make-believe squirrel with a bandaged tail is about to be unleashed on Central Florida to save us all from foolishly playing games with SunRail commuter trains.

The squirrel, a 2-foot-tall puppet called Tie, was created in recent months by SunRail consultants to spread the word about train safety.

Tie's bottom line: Stay away from the tracks, especially if a train is nearby.

"He is going to let the kids know why it's important to be safe around the tracks," said Steve Olson, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, which is in charge of SunRail.

Tie is among the offspring of a $2.4 million SunRail contract dedicated to marketing, public outreach and business development. His name is a play on the railroad ties that hold train tracks in place.

The idea behind Tie was to come up with an offbeat, fun way to teach youngsters about the perils of trains, particularly because there are several schools within walking distance of SunRail, the $1.2 billion commuter line that is supposed to start carrying passengers between west Volusia and south Orange counties in May 2014.

Olson describes Tie as "pretty high-strung." But that is part of the plan, he said, because, "people are busy, and we are all moving at a high pace. Tie kind of typifies where we are."

Tie's back story, as provided by a SunRail handout, includes the fact that he once got too close to the track and was clipped by a train — thus the bandaged tail.

The encounter apparently made a deep impression on Tie, because whenever a locomotive and cars are near, his tail starts twitching and he is known to wave his arm and yell, "Train!"

Although he was born in Longwood, Tie lives in the SunRail operations center in Sanford, the handout said.

In the not-too-distant future, Olson said, Tie will start appearing at schools in person as well as in a five-minute video discussing train safety. Three 90-second video spots also are underway. They will be uploaded to YouTube and the SunRail website.

"He's a busy, busy little squirrel," Olson said.

SunRail will operate along 31 miles of tracks previously owned by CSX Corp. and connect DeBary in Volusia County with downtown Orlando and south Orange County. There will be 17 stops.